This highly praised novel by Tom Rachman was, for me, a miss. The pace was brisk to the point of rushed, with characters introduced then colored in all too quickly. James Woods’ “hysterical realism” knock came to mind as well, with some of Rachman’s characters shouldering one more eccentricity than necessary (the dreadlocked Irish juggler comes to mind).

This was the first book I read completely via the Kindle app on the iPhone. I was skeptical, but the actual reading experience was pretty great. And barely an hour had passed between the time I finished this one and headed back into the app to download sample chapters of new releases and free copies of classics. Henry James’ The Ambassadors is now first in the queue. I expect I’ll start it tonight.